meeyauw's pad

Horn of Plenty Mushrooms

2009-11-10T23:54:00.011-05:00

These distinct mushrooms grow primarily under beech trees. We found them all over the woods in early October when we hiked behind the dump. Below you can see a small red creature eating the mushroom.

Craterellus cornucopioides

Horn of Plenty mushrooms are edible. John likes to dehydrate them and then grind them up and put them into a shaker (just like you have cheese in a shaker).

You see here the dried and then the ground mushrooms below. We add the dried horns of plenty to stews, casseroles, sauces and gravies.

Behind the Dump Hike

Horn of Plenty Mushrooms

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Atlantic Blue Crab

2009-11-04T12:03:00.005-05:00

Callinectes sapidus

These edible crabs have many names: a male crab is called a jimmy or channler. Mature female are called sooks. Immature females are called a sally or she-crab. A mature female carrying a brood of eggs is called a sponger or sponge crab. A mating pair of blue crabs is called a doubler. At low tide, off of the pier in the salt marsh, we saw people with nets and buckets. We wandered over to see what they were doing. A boy allowed me to photograph his bucket of blue crabs. John looked for some, but they were all captured by the time we got there. Perhaps we should've gone to the fish market and bought some and told the family we caught them for their supper! Below, you see John at the place where folks were catching crabs. The house we were staying at is directly across the marsh on the left.

A Weekend in Old Saybrook Set

Atlantic Blue Crab Set

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Byssal Filaments in Mussels

2009-11-04T11:55:00.001-05:00

Do you see the slender whitish "string" coming from this mussel? Those are called byssal filaments and they are why it can be difficult to pull a clam or mussel off of rocks. The mussel excretes these filaments in order to anchor itself to rocks in the ocean. It can take them from one day to a week to excrete the filaments. Other marine and freshwater bivalve mollusks also have these filaments.

A Weekend in Old Saybrook Set

Marine Mussels Set

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Double-crested Cormorants & A Seagull

2009-11-03T23:03:00.002-05:00

Again, I couldn't decide which cormorant photos to post. So another slide show. These are Double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) on a huge rock in Salt Works Bay, Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The white bird on the rock is a seagul.

I thank Greg Hanisek again for his gracious help identifying the cormorants. Greg is a journalist and nature writer for the Waterbury (Connecticut) Republican American. He also has the most informative nature blog that I have run across at Talking Nature with Greg Hanisek. I urge you to visit him frequently. He is always discussing topics that John and I are exploring in the woods.

Double-crested Cormorant Set

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Dunlins

2009-11-03T22:24:00.005-05:00

What do you do when you so enjoy looking at a bird that you can't decide which photographs to post? You make a slide show. This wonderful pair of dunlins walked in front of us on the beach at Old Saybrook. I finally ran ahead of them to get photos of their fronts and not just their backs. John continued to slowly walk behind them. We had a marvelous time!

I thank Greg Hanisek for his gracious help identifying the dunlins. Greg is a journalist and nature writer for the Waterbury (Connecticut) Republican American. He also has the most informative nature blog that I have run across at Talking Nature with Greg Hanisek. I urge you to visit him frequently. He is always discussing topics that John and I are exploring in the woods.

Dunlins Set

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Great Egret

2009-11-03T19:20:00.005-05:00

While in Old Saybrook, Connecticut with family in September, this great egret landed in the salt marsh behind the house we were staying in. My 50mm lens was not big enough to capture it. I asked Aaron, our professional photographer, to put one of his big Canon lenses on my Canon body. He put on the 200mm lens and let me shoot. He also shot. I honestly don't know which one of us shot which of these photographs. But I do know that I took at least one. Perhaps all. I love these photos because of the magnificent bird. Thank you, Aaron!

Great Egret Set

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

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One Single Impression: Shift in Time

2009-11-01T12:44:00.007-05:00

click on the photograph to view it full size in a new window

Sunset #45

To read more poetry, click the graphic or One Single Impression

Thank you for visiting!

A Weekend in Old Saybrook Set

Haiku Set

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On the Breakwater

2009-11-01T12:12:00.004-05:00

John at dusk (#58)

A Weekend in Old Saybrook Set

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Salt Works Bay Sunset V (The Last)

2009-11-01T12:08:00.001-05:00

Sunset 49

A Weekend in Old Saybrook Set

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Salt Works Bay Sunset IV

2009-10-31T22:39:00.002-04:00

Sunset 38

A Weekend in Old Saybrook Set

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Salt Works Bay Sunset III

2009-10-31T01:52:00.003-04:00

Sunset in Old Saybrook (52)

A Weekend in Old Saybrook Set

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Salt Works Bay Sunset II

2009-10-28T19:08:00.001-04:00

Sunset in Old Saybrook (61)

A Weekend in Old Saybrook Set

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Salt Works Bay Sunset

2009-10-28T00:39:00.004-04:00

Old Saybrook CT weekend (79), originally uploaded by meeyauw.

We stayed at Salt Works Bay, Old Saybrook, Connecticut on Long Island Sound in late September for a weekend with family. The sunset on the one dry evening we had was breathtaking. Instead of mushrooms (which I have been posting lately) there will be a series of photos of this sunset. I hope you enjoy them!

A Weekend in Old Saybrook Set

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Sunflower Nectar

2009-10-27T00:17:00.003-04:00

Sunflowers Set

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Two Clouded Sulphers

2009-10-26T16:35:00.003-04:00

Colias philodice

There were so many yellow clouded sulphers on the asters down in the field that John noticed them from the house. When I got there, they would flit away from me. So I just began shooting from any distance to see if I got anything good at all. This was the best shot. The challenge of photographing butterflies . . . it makes life interesting!

Clouded Sulpher Set

Insects of New England Collection

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Cabbage White Butterfly

2009-10-26T16:27:00.004-04:00

Pieris rapae

This guy looks totally different than my other cabbage white that I photographed. But the distinguishing characteristic is the one black dot on the wings.

Cabbage White Butterfly Set

Insects of New England Collection

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Main House at the Fells

2009-10-26T16:05:00.005-04:00

This is the main house at the Fells. We never got inside because the house was closed. But we did, silly us, pay to take the John Hay Ecology Hike on the grounds. But this house and the acres around it are important around here. According to the website:

The Fells, named after the Scottish word for rocky upland pastures, is situated on a nearly 1,000-acre hillside overlooking scenic Lake Sunapee. It is the former lakeside summer home of American writer and diplomat John M. Hay (1838-1905). Hay's son Clarence inherited the property and along with his wife Alice Appleton Hay, transformed the rock pasture into extensive formal and informal gardens.

In 1960 the Hays donated 675 acres to the Society for Protection of NH Forests. Upon the death of Alice in 1987, the remaining 164 acre-estate was given to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of their wildlife refuge system. In 2008 84 acres including the historic buildings and grounds were divested from USFWS and The Fells, an independent not for profit 501c(3) organization, who had cared for the property since 1995 became owners. The remaining 80 acres continues to be owned and managed by USFWS.

The Main House, built in the cottage style in 1891 and enlarged in 1897, was transformed into a 22-room Colonial Revival house in 1915 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The goal of The Fells is to foster the Hay family's special legacy of land stewardship and to create a center "for understanding the natural world and our place within it" with focus on history, horticulture and the environment.

I will go back and pay to see the house. Love touring those old houses!

The John Hay Forest Ecology Trail Hike

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American Pine Mushroom

2009-10-26T14:03:00.002-04:00

Armillaria ponderosa

American Pine Mushroom Set

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One Single Impression: Elusive

2009-10-24T22:27:00.004-04:00

click on the photograph to view it full size in a new window

To read more poetry, click the graphic or One Single Impression
Thank you for visiting!

The John Hay Forest Ecology Trail Hike

Haiku

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Oyster Mushrooms

2009-10-24T19:04:00.004-04:00

Pleurotus ostreatus

I've read that some people think these mushrooms are the most delicious thing on the face of the earth. We didn't harvest any on this hike because we sadly had nothing to carry them in. We were unprepared! We'll never be unprepared again.

Oyster Mushroom Set

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Amanita solitaria

2009-10-23T23:31:00.003-04:00

Amanita solitaria Set

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Sycamore

2009-10-23T08:04:00.004-04:00

Characteristics: huge trees, smooth seemingly white bark. Connecticut's largest tree is a sycamore:

Pinchot Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), Route 85 at the Farmington River, Simsbury

With a trunk 25 feet in circumference and a branching spread of 138 feet, the Pinchot Sycamore is the largest tree in Connecticut. Gifford Pinchot was born in Simsbury and likely knew this hulk of a tree dedicated to him in 1965. Pinchot, an early and influential conservationist, along with Teddy Roosevelt helped found the US Forest Service.

source: The Historic Trees Project

The seed case.
Below a seed case is opening.

Platanus occidentalis

Sycamore Tree Set

Trees of New England Collection

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Bumblebee on Japanese Knotweed

2009-10-22T22:09:00.004-04:00

Bees & Wasps Set

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Wasp on Japanese Knotweed

2009-10-22T21:45:00.003-04:00

Fallopia japonica

Japanese knotweed (also called Mexican bamboo) is extremely invasive. Yet it seems to be valued in New Hampshire. I have even seen trimmed hedges of it. Insects (and cats) love this plant. It grows tall in dense thickets. The flowers attract all types of bees and insects. My cats love to nap and hunt underneath it.

Bees & Wasps Set

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I Don't Know What This Is . . .

2009-10-21T23:18:00.002-04:00

. . . but I like it.

Unidentified Wildflowers

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Links for 2009-05-24 [del.icio.us]

2009-05-25T00:00:00-07:00

Frogs of New Hampshire - N.H. Fish and Game

Links for 2009-05-02 [del.icio.us]

2009-05-03T00:00:00-07:00

Interactive weather map for Barton, VT

Links for 2009-03-15 [del.icio.us]

2009-03-16T00:00:00-07:00

Pyramids, Stonehenge, Easter Island and the Great Pyramid explained by ...
a retired carpenter figures out how ancient civilizations built their marvelous creations

Links for 2008-10-24 [del.icio.us]

2008-10-25T00:00:00-07:00

Games on Graphs
active games for math class; discrete math games

Links for 2008-10-09 [del.icio.us]

2008-10-10T00:00:00-07:00

Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild
rug hooking; free classes on Nov 10

Links for 2008-10-02 [del.icio.us]

2008-10-03T00:00:00-07:00

Photojojo’s Guide to Macrophotography
Macro filters, reverse mounted lenses, microscope photography, make your own macro lens, great article

Links for 2008-09-23 [del.icio.us]

2008-09-24T00:00:00-07:00

Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds
use this to make pretty word art with your poetry